Online ordering system and method

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for facilitating an on-line purchase of at least one item on behalf of a consumer are disclosed. A consumer may shop and purchase at least one item on a consolidated shopping (CS) website displaying one or more items available for purchase on one or more different merchant websites. The CS website provides consumers with advanced searching that takes into consideration a personal profile of the consumer, the consumer&#39;s previous shopping history, transactional data relating to a group of similar consumers, and the like. A host computer providing the CS website may access a merchant website selling the requested item, and order the requested item on behalf of the consumer, and charging a transaction fee, listing fee, receiving a rebate and/or offering a rebate for performing such. One embodiment allows a consumer to purchase/order multiple items from multiple websites in a single purchase request to the CS website.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of, and claims priority toU.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/125,593, filed on May 9, 2005, whichitself claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No.60/521,507, filed on May 7, 2004. The '593 application is acontinuation-in-part of, and also claims priority to, U.S. applicationSer. No. 09/882,368 filed on Jun. 15, 2001, and claims priority to U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 60/212,103, filed Jun. 15, 2000, allof which are hereby incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention generally relates to on-line purchases made by aconsolidated shopping website, and more particularly, to advancedproduct searching and filtering of categorized product data from aplurality of merchants through the consolidated shopping website.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

With the proliferation of the Internet, more and more consumers arepurchasing items on-line. Historically, if a consumer wanted topurchase, for example, clothing and auto parts on-line, the consumereither went to one website for the clothing and a different website forthe auto parts, or to a single website selling both clothing and autoparts (e.g., www.sears.com). In the latter instance, if the consumerneeds a type of clothing (e.g., a tuxedo) which is not available, andauto parts (e.g., tires) that are available, the consumer must stillpurchase the clothing and the auto parts from different websites.

Websites currently exist (e.g., www.froogle.com and www.mysimon.com)that consolidate catalogs from one or more merchants. However, thesewebsites do not provide an integrated shopping experience since theyrefer the consumer to another website to purchase a specific item. Inother words, these websites transfer the consumer to a different websitethat sells the particular item(s) the consumer wishes to purchase, sothat the consumer may then purchase the item on the transferee website.Returning to the example above, if the consumer wishes to purchase thetuxedo and the tires, the consumer must complete two separate purchases.Thus, for items not sold on a single website, current methods andsystems still require the consumer to purchase the items on two separatewebsites in two separate transactions.

Therefore, systems and methods are needed to enable a host computerproviding a consolidated shopping website to order at least one itemfrom at least one different merchant website on behalf of a consumer.Additionally, there is a need for systems and methods to providecompensation to an entity providing a service that allows a consumer toorder multiple items sold on multiple websites in a “single transaction”as perceived by the consumer. Further, there is a need to provideadvanced searching of products from a plurality of merchants throughclassification of products and analysis of consumer transactionalhistory and a consumer profile.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an interactive website that may include iteminformation from one or more merchants in order to present consumerswith an integrated online shopping experience. In one embodiment, iteminformation is provided directly from the merchant via any network,webpage, communication device, protocol or method discussed herein, andstored in any of the databases also discussed herein.

An integrated online shopping interface provides consumers with avariety of methods for searching for items from a plurality of merchantsin accordance with item categories. Moreover, the invention provides forthe analysis of a consumer's transaction history and profile informationin order to provide search results that are more narrowly targeted tospecific consumers and/or groups of consumers than what is provided bypresent day commerce systems.

Further embodiments of the invention relate to systems and methods tofacilitate an on-line purchase of at least one item on behalf of aconsumer. A host computer may provide a consolidated shopping (CS)website displaying one or more items available for purchase on at leastone merchant website which is separate from the CS website. The hostcomputer may receive a request from a consumer to purchase at least oneitem displayed on the CS website, and order the item on behalf of theconsumer from one or more merchant websites selling the item and thehost computer may receive compensation for providing such service.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of thisinvention will become more readily appreciated as the same become betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description, whentaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an illustration of a representative portion of an internetworksuch as the Internet;

FIG. 2 is a pictorial diagram of a number of devices connected to aninternetwork for processing item data from merchants or suppliers inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating several of the components of aconsumer device;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating several of the components of animport server;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating several of the components of adata scrub device;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the actions taken by a merchant server,an import server, a staging database, a merchant database, an item tableand a buffer table to gather item information to allow a consumer topurchase items and/or services using a UPPS in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the actions taken by a supplier server,an import server, a staging database, a merchant database, an item tableand a buffer table to gather item information to allow a consumer topurchase items and/or services using a UPPS in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 8 is an overview flow diagram illustrating a process for importingitem data from an item feed into an import server;

FIG. 9 is an overview flow diagram illustrating a process for importingitem data through multiple stage databases from an item feed;

FIG. 10 is a pictorial diagram of a number of devices connected to aninternetwork which allow a consumer device also connected to theinternetwork to purchase items and/or services in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIGS. 11A-11C and 12A-12B are exemplary webpages illustrating searchingand shopping on an e-commerce site;

FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating an automated data scrub of a buffertable in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating a manual data scrub of a buffertable in accordance with the present invention.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of asystem to facilitate an on-line purchase of at least one item by aconsolidated shopping website; and

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating one exemplary embodiment of amethod to facilitate an on-line purchase of at least one item by aconsolidated shopping website.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be describedwith reference to the accompanying drawings and figures. These exemplaryembodiments are described in sufficient detail to reveal the best modeof implementing the invention, and to enable those skilled in the art topractice the invention. It should be understood, however, that otherembodiments may be realized and that logical and mechanical changes maybe made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.Thus, the detailed description herein is presented for purposes ofillustration only and not of limitation. For example, the steps recitedin any of the method or process descriptions may be executed in anyorder and are not limited to the order presented.

For the sake of brevity, conventional data networking, applicationdevelopment and other functional aspects of the systems (and componentsof the individual operating components of the systems) need not bedescribed in detail herein. Furthermore, the connecting lines shown inthe various figures contained herein are intended to represent exemplaryfunctional relationships and/or physical couplings between the variouselements. It should be noted that many alternative or additionalfunctional relationships or physical connections may be present in apractical system.

As will be better understood from the following description, the presentinvention is embodied at least in part in a Web site accessible via theInternet. As is well known by those skilled in the art, the term“Internet” refers to the collection of networks and routers that use thetransmission control protocol/Internet protocol (“TCP/IP”) or nextgeneration protocols to communicate with one another. A representativesection of the Internet 100 is shown in FIG. 1. A plurality of localarea networks (“LANs”) 120 in a wide area network (“WAN”) 130 areinterconnected by routers 110. The routers 110 are special purposecomputers used to interface one LAN or WAN to another. Communicationlinks within the LANs may be twisted wire, coaxial cable, fiber-optic,wireless links or other communication links known to those skilled inthe art. While communication links between networks may utilize analogtelephone lines, digital lines, fiber-optic, wireless or othercommunication links known to those skilled in the art. Furthermore,computers, such as remote computers 140, and other related electronicdevices such as telephones, personal digital assistants (“PDAs”), etc.,can be remotely connected to either the LANs 120 or WANs 130 via a modem(not shown) and a temporary communication link, such as a telephone lineor wireless connection (shown as a dotted line). As will be appreciatedby those of ordinary skill in the art, the Internet 100 comprises a vastnumber of such interconnected networks, computers, and routers and thatonly a small, representative portion is shown in FIG. 1.

The Internet 100 has recently seen explosive growth by virtue of itsability to link computers located throughout the world. As the Internet100 has grown, so has the Web. As will be readily appreciated by thoseskilled in the art, the Web is a vast collection of interconnected or“hypertext” documents formatted in the HyperText Markup Language(“HTML”) or other markup languages that are electronically stored at Websites throughout the Internet 100. A Web site resides on a servercomputer such as the import server 400 illustrated in FIG. 4 connectedto the Internet 100 that has storage facilities for storing hypertextdocuments and that runs Web server software 460 for handling requestsfor those stored hypertext documents. A hypertext document normallyincludes a number of hyperlinks, usually displayed on a monitor ashighlighted portions of text, which link the document to anotherhypertext document stored at the same Web site or some other Web sitelocated elsewhere on the Internet 100. Each hyperlink is associated witha Uniform Resource Locator (“URL”) that provides the location of thelinked document on the Web server connected to the Internet. Thus,whenever a hypertext document is retrieved from any Web server, thedocument is considered to be retrieved from the Web. As is known tothose skilled in the art, a Web server may also include facilities forstoring and transmitting application programs, such as applicationprograms written in the JAVA® programming language from Sun Microsystemsfor execution on a remote computer. Likewise, a Web server may alsoinclude facilities for executing scripts and other programs on the Webserver itself.

A consumer or other remote user may retrieve hypertext documents fromthe Web via a Web browser application program. A Web browser, such asthe NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR® browser or the MICROSOFT® Internet Explorerbrowser, is a software application program for providing a userinterface with the Web. Upon request from the consumer via the Webbrowser, the Web browser accesses and retrieves the desired hypertextdocument from the appropriate Web server using the URL for the documentand a protocol known as hypertext transfer protocol (“HTTP”). HTTP is ahigher level protocol than TCP/IP and is designed specifically for therequirements of the Web. It is used on top of TCP/IP to transferhypertext documents between servers and clients. The Web browser mayalso retrieve application programs from the Web server, such as JAVAapplets, for execution on the consumer device 300. It will beappreciated by those skilled in the art that protocols other than HTTPmay be used. For example, a URL might designate the file transferprotocol (“FTP”) or Secure HyperText Transfer Protocol (“HTTPS”).

The present invention is directed to providing a UPPS allowing theordering and purchasing of items from many different merchants on theInternet. One embodiment of the invention provides a UPPS having acommon user interface. The common user interface allows the consumer topurchase items from different merchants using the same user interface.For example, if a consumer is searching for books, videos andappliances, the consumer will likely be presented with books, videos andappliances from several different merchants. The consumer, however, willbe able to order Book A from Merchant A, and Book B from Merchant Busing the same ordering form.

A system 200 of computers and devices to which the import server 400 anddata scrub device 500 are also connected is shown in detail in FIG. 2.In addition to the data scrub device 500 and the import server 400, thesystem 200 includes at least one supplier server 210 and at least onemerchant server 205. Moreover, those of ordinary skill in the art willrecognize that while only one data scrub device 500, one import server400, one merchant server 205 and one supplier server 210 are depicted inFIG. 2, numerous merchant servers 205, supplier servers 210, importservers 400 and data scrub devices 500 may be interconnected to operatein accordance with the present invention.

In one embodiment of the invention, the import server 400 generateswebpages containing item information that can be viewed by the consumerusing standard Web browsers. In another embodiment, the import server400 creates a network presence, in which the import server 400 sends acustomized data stream containing item and merchant information over thenetwork to the consumer devices 300. The consumer device 300 uses a Webbrowser to provide a user interface configured to accept the data streamand to allow the consumer to search for and view item information,select items, and order items all using the same interface.

FIG. 3 depicts several of the key components of a consumer device 300used by a consumer to order items via the Internet in accordance withthe present invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that the consumer device 300 includes many more componentsthan those shown in FIG. 3. However, it is not necessary that all ofthese generally conventional components be shown in order to disclose anillustrative embodiment for practicing the present invention. As shownin FIG. 3, the consumer device 300 includes a network interface unit 330for connecting to a LAN 120 or WAN 130. As will be appreciated by thoseof ordinary skill in the art, the network interface unit 330 includesthe necessary circuitry for such a connection, and is also constructedfor use with the TCP/IP protocol, the particular network configurationof the LAN 120 or WAN 130 it is connecting to, and a particular type ofcoupling medium. Alternatively, the consumer device 300 may also beequipped with a modem for connecting to the Internet through a point topoint protocol (“PPP”) connection or a serial line Internet protocol(“SLIP”) connection as known to those skilled in the art.

The consumer device 300 also includes a central processing unit 310, adisplay 340 and a memory 350 connected via a bus 320. The memory 350generally comprises random access memory (“RAM”), and read-only memory(“ROM”) and a persistent mass storage device such as a hard disk drive.The memory 350 stores an operating system 355 for controlling theoperation of the consumer device 300. The memory 350 also includes a Webbrowser 360, such as the NETSCAPE NAVIGATOR® browser or the MICROSOFT®Internet Explorer browser, for accessing the Web. Web browser 360 mayalso store a JAVA virtual machine used to execute JAVA “applets” asknown to those skilled in the art. It will be appreciated that thesecomponents may be stored on a computer-readable medium and loaded intomemory 350 of the consumer device 300 using a drive mechanism associatedwith the computer-readable medium, such as a floppy or a CD-ROM/DVD-ROMdrive or the network adapter 330.

Although in one embodiment the consumer device 300 is a personalcomputer, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that theconsumer device 300 could be a wireless device such as a pager, acellular telephone, Web-enabled landline telephone, PDA or any othertype of consumer device 300 capable of communicating with the importserver 400.

FIG. 4 depicts several of the components of an import server 400 used toimplement the present invention. Those of ordinary skill in the art willappreciate that the import server 400 includes many more components thanthose shown in FIG. 4. However, it is not necessary that all of thesegenerally conventional components be shown in order to disclose anillustrative embodiment for practicing the present invention. As shownin FIG. 4, the import server 400 is connected to the Internet 100, orother communications network, via a network interface unit 430. Those ofordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the network interfaceunit 430 includes the necessary circuitry for connecting the importserver 400 to the Internet 100, and is constructed for use with theTCP/IP protocol.

The import server 400 also includes a central processing unit (“CPU”)410, a display 440, and mass memory 450, connected via a bus 420. Massmemory 450 generally comprises RAM, ROM, and some form of persistentmass storage device, such as a hard disk drive, tape drive, opticaldrive (such as CD-ROM or DVD-ROM), floppy disk drive, or combinationthereof. Mass memory 450 stores an operating system 455 for controllingthe operation of the import server 400. It will be appreciated that theoperating system may be formed by any one of several server operatingsystems well known to those of ordinary skill in the art, such as UNIX®,MAC OS® or MICROSOFT® WINDOWS NT®. In addition, mass memory 450 storesimport scripts 460, as well as image processor software 465 forextracting and/or retrieving item images.

FIG. 5 depicts several of the key components of an exemplary data scrubdevice 500 used to implement the present invention. Those of ordinaryskill in the art will appreciate that the data scrub device 500 includesmany more components than those shown in FIG. 5. However, it is notnecessary that all of these generally conventional components be shownin order to disclose an illustrative embodiment for practicing thepresent invention. As shown in FIG. 5, the data scrub device 500includes a network interface unit 530 for connecting to a LAN 120 or WAN130 (FIG. 1). As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in theart, the network interface unit 530 includes the necessary circuitry forsuch a connection, and is also constructed for use with the TCP/IPprotocol, the particular network configuration of the LAN 120 or WAN 130it is connecting to, and a particular type of coupling medium.Alternatively, the data scrub device 500 may also be equipped with amodem for connecting to the Internet through a PPP connection or a SLIPconnection as known to those skilled in the art.

The data scrub device 500 also includes a central processing unit 510, adisplay 540 and a memory 550 connected via a bus 520. The memory 550generally comprises RAM, and ROM and a persistent mass storage devicesuch as a hard disk drive. The memory 550 stores an operating system 555for controlling the operation of the data scrub device 500. The memory550 also includes a scrub database 560, staging database 570 andmerchant databases 580. Scrub database 560 in turn comprises an itemtable 566 and a buffer table 564. It will be appreciated that thesecomponents may be stored on a computer-readable medium and loaded intomemory 550 of the data scrub device 500 using a drive mechanismassociated with the computer-readable medium, such as a floppy or aCD-ROM/DVD-ROM drive or the network adapter 530. In one embodiment ofthe invention, some of the components of the data scrub device 500 maybe part of the import server 400 (FIGS. 2, 4).

FIG. 6 illustrates the actions taken by the merchant server 205, importserver 400, staging databases 570, merchant databases 580, item table566 and buffer table 564 to gather item information to enable searching,viewing and purchasing through the UPPS hereinafter referred as UPPS inaccordance with the present invention. (Both the staging databases 570and merchant databases 580 have a separate database for each merchant orsupplier of item data. Accordingly, when referring to a single merchantor supplier, the staging databases 570 and merchant database 580 will bereferred to in the singular.) The interactions of the various componentsare illustrated and described in greater detail later with reference todiagrams shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. Returning to FIG. 6, the item dataimport process is initiated when a merchant server 205 provides an itemfeed 605 to an import server 400. The import server 400 is then able toretrieve 610 image data from the merchant server that relates to theitems described in the item feed. The import server requests images 615from the merchant server and receives item images 620 back from themerchant server. The item feed in the form of normalized data and images625 is then forwarded to the staging databases 570. The staging databaseis where duplicate items are removed 630, new items are inserted 635,existing items are updated 640, and old items are deleted 645. Next, theinformation from the particular staging database 570 associated with theoriginating merchant server 205 forwards the staged normalized datawhich is just the normalized data feed that has been updated with theinformation and processing performed on that particular staging database570. This staged data 650 is passed to the merchant databases and inparticular to the merchant database 580 associated with the originatingmerchant server 205. The merchant database 580 then forwards 655matching item data to the item table 566 and forwards unmatched itemdata 660 to the buffer table 564. Matching and unmatched item data willbe discussed in greater detail below with regard to FIG. 9.

FIG. 7 illustrates the actions taken by the supplier server 210, importserver 400, staging databases 570, merchant databases 580, item table566 and buffer table 564 to gather item information to enable searching,viewing and purchasing through the UPPS hereinafter referred as UPPS inaccordance with the present invention. The interactions of the variouscomponents are illustrated and described in greater detail later withreference to diagrams shown in FIGS. 8 and 9. Returning to FIG. 7, theitem data import process is initiated when a supplier server 210provides an item feed 705 to an import server 400. The import server 400is then able to extract and process 710 image data from the item feedthat relates to the items described in the item feed. The item feed inthe form of supplier (normalized) data and images 715 are then forwardedto the staging databases 570. The staging database 570 is whereduplicate items are removed 720, new items are inserted 725, existingitems are updated 730, and old items are deleted 735. Next, theinformation from the particular staging database 570 associated with theoriginating supplier server 210 forwards the staged normalized datawhich is just the normalized data feed that has been updated with theinformation and processing performed on that particular staging database570. This staged data 740 is passed to the merchant (in this case alsosupplier) databases 580 and in particular to the merchant database 580associated with the originating supplier server 210. The merchantdatabase 580 then forwards 745 categorized item data to the item table566 and forwards uncategorized item data 750 to the buffer table 564.

It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that theorder of the operations in FIG. 6 or 7 may be altered withoutsubstantially affecting the operation of the present invention. Forexample, the merchant database 580 may be incorporated into the stagingdatabase 570; or some or all of steps 630-645 may be performed in otherorders or even on the merchant database 580.

The present invention is directed to providing a shopping service thatobtains items for a consumer across many different merchant sites whilemaintaining a consistent user interface for the consumer no matter fromwhich merchant the items are retrieved or obtained. Instead ofredirecting the consumer to an external site when the consumer selectsan item located on an external merchant site, the import server 400maintains control of the consumer throughout the entire shoppingprocess. Accordingly, FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary logic routine 800illustrating importing item data from an item feed into an import server400 in accordance with the present invention. Routine 800 starts atblock 801 and proceeds to block 805 where the item feed is received.Next, in block 810, the identity of the source of the item feed (e.g.,merchant or supplier) is found from the item feed itself or from theaddress from which it was received (e.g. a URL for the supplierwebsite). If the source of the item feed in decision block 815 isdetermined to be a supplier, then in block 820, image data is extractedand processed from embedded images within the item feed. In block 825,the supplier item feed which was received in a normalized form isforwarded to the data scrub device. If, however, in decision block 815,it was determined that the source of the item feed was not a supplier,then the flow goes to block 830 where item images have to be retrievedfrom the merchant server associated with the merchant item feed. In oneembodiment of the invention, item information and/or item images areobtained by scraping a merchant server's 205 Website. For a descriptionof scraping please refer to FIG. 14 described below and to commonlyowned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/237,169 filed Jan. 25, 1999and entitled WEB SCRAPING ENGINE, which is incorporated herein byreference. In block 835, the merchant item feed is normalized so that itcan be incorporated more easily into the databases of the currentinvention. Included in this normalization are the images retrieved fromthe merchant server. Processing then continues back to block 825, andthe normalized data from the merchant feed now is of the same normalizedformat as if it had been supplier provided data. Processing then ends atblock 899.

The item feed and any accompanying images have now been normalized forincorporation through the various databases (staging database 570,merchant database 580, and scrub database 560, including buffer table564 and item table 566 (FIG. 5)) in accordance with the presentinvention. FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary logic routine 900illustrating importing the item data from the item feed through thesedatabases. Routine 900 starts at block 901 and proceeds to block 905where the normalized item feed is received.

In one exemplary embodiment, the first database receiving the normalizeditem feed is the staging database 570. However, other databases, such asthe merchant database 580, could be the first to receive the normalizeditem feed. At the database level, duplicate items are removed from theitem feed in block 910. In block 915, new items from the item feed areinserted into the database. In block 920, existing items are updatedbased on the normalized item feed. Next, in block 925, any expired orold items that are no longer in the item feed may be deleted. (It isimportant to reiterate here that the staging databases 570 and merchantdatabases 580 are referred to both in the plural and the singular, asthe collection of staging databases 570 and the collection of merchantdatabases 580 contain a separate database each for every supplier andmerchant which provide item feeds in accordance with the presentinvention.)

It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that steps910-925 for updating the databases may be performed in a different orderfrom that depicted in FIG. 9, depending upon specific implementation ofthe present invention, without departing from the spirit of theinvention as specified herein.

Once routine 900 gets to block 930, it then needs to identify the sourceof the item feed as that will determine how entries in the item feedwill be incorporated into the item table and/or buffer table. So, inblock 930, the source is identified and in decision block 935, if it isdetermined that the source of the item data is a supplier, then in block940, the item entries in the item feed are only checked to see if theyhave been categorized or that the category already exists in the itemtable. If, in decision block 945 it is determined that the categoryexists for an item entry, then that item entry is sent to the itemtable. If, in block 945 it is determined that the item is uncategorizedor that no category exists in the item table that matches the categoryof the particular item entry, then the item is sent to the buffer tablefor further processing at a later point, in block 955.

Returning back to decision block 935, if the source is not a supplier,then in block 960, each item entry is checked to see if there is a matchin the item database. It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skillin the art that matching item entries in the item feed and item entriesin the item table may be done in a myriad of fashions. In one exemplaryembodiment, the shopkeeper unit (“SKU”) is used to match items in theitem feed and the item table. Alternately, in another embodiment,manufacturer name and manufacturer model number may be used to matchentries in the item feed and item table 566 (FIG. 5). However, otheruniquely identifying information may also be used to match item entriesin the item feed to item entries in the item table 566.

Next, in decision block 965, if it is determined that there is a matchbetween an item entry in the item feed and an item entry in the itemtable, then the item table is updated with the item entry from the itemfeed, thereby resulting in a more up-to-date entry with regard to thatitem in the item table 566. If, however, in decision block 965 it isdetermined that there is no matching item in the item table, then theitem entry is forwarded to the buffer table in block 955 for processingat a later point. In any case, processing and of routine 900 ends atblock 999.

Once the item feed has been imported into the system of the currentinvention, including the item table in the scrub database, it will thenbe used in a commercial side system open to the public; however, this isusually not done directly, rather, the information is sent to devices,servers, and databases accessible by the public, using the item table asa master source of sorts.

Accordingly, FIG. 10 illustrates one exemplary commercial side systemwith a number of components. The system 1000 is set up as a loadbalanced, redundant system with both active and inactive databases ineach component. The information from the item table 566 is forwarded toan item price database 1005. The item price database 1005 is updatedperiodically such as once an hour, once a day, once a week, and soforth; again, preserving the item table as the master source from whichthe data is received.

An index server 1010 then takes the information in the item pricedatabase 1005 and indexes it using conventional keyword and databaseindexing routines known to those of ordinary skill in the art. The indexserver supplies index meta-data or data about the index and other indexdata for the items in the item price database to search servers, such assearch servers #1 and #2, 1041 and 1042, shown in FIG. 10. The itemprice database 1005 also supplies item details, such as descriptions andimages that correspond to the information sent by the index server 1010.Note that while search database #1 1041 and search database #2 1042 arebeing updated, search database #3 1043 and search database #4 1044 areactually online and are in communication with a search server #1 1051and a search server #2 1052, respectively. This allows search databases#3 and #4, 1043 and 1044 respectively, to remain fully active whilesearch server #1 1041 and search database #2 1042 are being updated.Search databases #1-4 1041-1044 are mirrored databases, which means thatwhen one is finished updating, the updated information is then mirroredto the next. For example, in FIG. 10, once search database #1 1041 isfinished receiving index information and item information, search server#3 1043 will be taken offline, and the same information will be added tosearch server #3.

The load balancing of the illustrated embodiment is handled by the “bigIP” server 1060 which is a conventional load balancing server known tothose of ordinary skill in the art to allow the communications load tobe distributed across components of the present invention. The “big IP”server 1060 is connected via the Internet 100 to the consumer device ordevices 300 and merchant servers 205.

Returning back to the databases, the pricing databases #1-4 1031-1034are in communication with mirrored SQL servers #1 and #2 1021-1022, suchthat when a consumer has finished searching for items using searchserver #1 1051 or search server #2 1052, they are then able to retrievedetailed information from pricing databases #1-4 1031-1034. Note againthat with SQL #1 and SQL#2, while SQL#1 1021 is being updated from theitem price database 1005, SQL #2 1022 is in communication with thepricing databases, and that while pricing database #1 1031 and pricingdatabase #2 1032 are accessible by consumers via the Internet 100,pricing database #3 1033 and pricing database #4 1034 are incommunication with SQL database #2 to update their information.

While one possible embodiment is shown here, it need hardly be mentionedthat this commercial side of the present invention could have a myriadof other possible configurations, not the least would be a much simplersystem where only the item table was used instead of the item pricedatabase index server, sequel databases, pricing databases, searchdatabases, and search servers and with no load balancing at all.However, each one of these components does increase the speed,flexibility, or reliability of the overall system and have been includedto illustrate one exemplary embodiment of how the present invention maybe implemented.

As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art,identifying and searching for items can be done in many different ways.For example, in one embodiment of the invention, the consumer entersinformation about the items into a search engine. Based on theinformation input into the search engine, a list of items is returned tothe consumer on a webpage. In another embodiment of the invention, thesearch engine may search a database stored on the import server 400containing a list of currently available items from many differentmerchants. In another embodiment, the search engine searches externaldatabases that are not contained on the import server 400 but arelocated on remote computers. As will be appreciated by those of ordinaryskill in the art, many different search engines can be used. In yetanother embodiment, a classification system is established that dividesgoods or services into categories of specific types. For example,categories can include, among many others, clothes, books, music, video,jewelry and the like.

Search results may further be partially or fully sorted and displayed inaccordance with the preferences of the consumer. In one embodiment,sorting preferences are selected by the consumer prior to performing adatabase search. Accordingly, the sorting criteria are added to a querystring to produce a sorted list of items prior to displaying the list tothe consumer. In another embodiment, the consumer may sort a list ofitems after the list has been retrieved and displayed. For example, alist of laptop computers may be presented to a consumer in the form of atable having columns to display information such as make, model,description, specifications, price, and the like. The consumer mayprefer to sort the table according to price. Therefore, the listing oflaptop computers may be programmatically sorted in response to theconsumer selecting the “price” column header. There are a number of waysto sort data programmatically without requiring execution of a new queryagainst a database. For example, a JavaScript “for”, “while”, or “do . .. while” loop may process each item in a list against the consumerselected sorting criteria to determine how to position each item withrespect to other items in a list. A working list may be stored in memoryas an array that is written to the interface when list sorting routineis complete. Practitioners will appreciate that a listing of items maybe sorted according to any number of criteria and through any number ofmethods.

To control how searches are performed and how results should beconfigured, the consumer may access a search preferences interface. Thesearch preferences interface enables the consumer to define whatinformation is returned with search results. For example, a consumer whoutilizes the disclosed integrated shopping site may wish to limit searchresults to display product descriptions and price only. Another consumermay be more concerned with the identity of the merchant, thus theconsumer configures the search preferences to display results thatinclude a product description and merchant identifier. In oneembodiment, the consumer may interact with the search preferencesinterface to filter out specific merchants and/or manufactures fromsearch results. Practitioners will appreciate that there may be anynumber of known options for filtering search results.

In another embodiment, a consumer may configure item specific searchrules. For example, a consumer may be charged with purchasing cleaningsupplies for a janitorial service. The janitorial service may besensitive to the environmental effects of a chemical compound that iscommonly used in industrial strength solvents. As such, the consumer maydefine a rule that states that, if a solvent includes such a chemicalcompound, then that solvent should be filtered out of the searchresults.

Accordingly, there are instances when price is not the predominatefactor in a purchase decision. For example, a consumer living inPhoenix, Ariz. may be contentious about supporting the local economy. Assuch, the consumer may want to configure search preferences such thatitems manufactured, fabricated and/or sold locally will appear higher ona search results list. In one embodiment, search preferences storedalong with a personal profile of the consumer are used to pre-selectitems to display as advertisements and/or offers within an interfacewhen the consumer logs-in to the system. Compensation for providing suchads and/or offers may be provided in accordance with known compensationmodels that include, for example, charge per display, charge by click,charge by purchase, and the like.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the consumer browses throughitem search results on a webpage (see FIGS. 11A-11C and descriptionbelow) provided by a search server 1041, 1042, 1043 or 1044. In anotherembodiment, the search results are sent electronically to a wirelessdevice, such as a telephone, or PDA. As will be appreciated by those ofordinary skill in the art, wireless devices are more restricted by theamount of information they may display as compared to a personalcomputer. Therefore, the information sent to the wireless device isformatted for viewing on a wireless device. Well known presentationformats for wireless devices are Handheld Device Markup Language(“HDML”) documents and Wireless Markup Language (“WML”) documents. Aswill be appreciated by those skilled in the arts, HDML and WML documentsmay be viewed on conventional microbrowsers such as Phone.com's™ UP.linkmicrobrowsers. If the consumer is interested in a particular item, theitem may be added to the consumer's shopping cart (see FIGS. 12A and 12Band description below). In one embodiment of the invention, the consumerselects the item by clicking on a hyperlink to add the item to theservice. As will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art,there are many methods of selecting an item. For example, a consumer maydrag an icon or hyperlink representing the item to an icon or hyperlinkrepresenting the shopping cart.

For clarity of illustration, the phrase “item type” will be used todescribe a type of merchandise that may be sold by several merchants.For example, an “NEC 17 inch LCD monitor” is an “item type”. An “item”may be any good and/or service capable of being exchanged between two ormore entities, and the term “item” may be used to describe an item thatis carried by a particular merchant. For example, an “NEC 17 inch LCDmonitor from Circuit City” is an “item”. When a consumer selects anitem, both the item type and the merchant may be determined. Inaddition, an “item identifier” may include, for example, a universalitem code (UPC), a stockkeeping unit (SKU), a serial number, a referencenumber, a category number, a service type indicator, a descriptionand/or other any other information capable of identifying an item. Anyreference to an item type, item or item identifier, as used herein, mayinclude one or more item types, items or item identifiers, respectively.

FIGS. 11A-12B illustrate exemplary web pages for searching, viewing andselecting an item in accordance with the present invention. Webpage 1100illustrates an exemplary webpage form having a field for searching forspecific items. The results of an exemplary search are shown in webpage1130. After selecting a type of item from webpage 1130, a consumer mightsee a webpage such as exemplary viewing webpage 1160 where the consumeris presented with the detailed description of the selected item alongwith a link to compare prices and handling details from differentmerchants. Webpage 1200 shows a number of different merchants withdifferent prices and/or handling details. Finally, webpage 1260illustrates a selected item from a particular merchant that is ready tobe checked out.

Another aspect of the current invention allows for a more full, accurateand detailed item coverage in the item table. Specifically, the datascrubbing ability of the current invention which is the process ofanalyzing the item entries which have been placed in the buffer table564 due to being either uncategorized or unmatched with existing itemsin the item table 566. Data scrubbing can either be an automatic processor a manual process each of which is reflected in FIG. 13 or 14,respectively.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating a routine 1300 for automatic datascrubbing. Routine 1300 starts in block 1301 and proceeds to block 1305where an item entry is retrieved from the buffer table. In block 1310,the item entry is examined. Then in decision block 1315, if it is foundthat the item matches the item entry in the item table, it isautomatically forwarded to the item table and requires no furtherscrubbing. However, if in decision block 1315 it was found that the itemdid not match an entry in the item table, processing continues todecision block 1320 where it is determined if the item is identifiable.Specifically, is this a valid item for which an item entry can be madewithin the item table? If it is not identifiable, then in block 1345,the item is returned to the buffer table for analysis at a later date oreventual expiration. However, if in decision block 1320 the item isidentifiable, then in decision block 1325 it is determined whether theitem is categorizable, specifically, if the item will fall into a typeof category. One example might be that two separate items might have thesame title; however further information would show that they were indifferent categories. An item title such the name “fountain pen” mightbe the title of a book or a description of a writing instrument.Therefore, the data scrub routine 1300 looks to additional informationto see if there is any indication that the item would fall in onecategory versus another, e.g., books or office supplies. If the item iscategorizable, then processing continues to 1330 where a category isassigned to the item; then, in block 1335 the item is forwarded to theitem database 566. If however in decision block 1325 the item is notcategorizable, it placed back in the buffer table in block 1345.Finally, in decision block 1340, a determination is made if there areany more unretrieved item entries in the buffer table. If all entrieshave been retrieved, then processing ends in 1399, otherwise it returnsback to block 1305 to continue scrubbing the buffer table.

Similar to FIG. 13, FIG. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a manual datascrubbing routine 1400. Routine 1400 may start in block 1401 and proceedto block 1405 where an item entry is retrieved from the buffer table. Inblock 1410, the item entry may examined. Then in decision block 1415, itis determined whether the item is identifiable. Specifically, does theitem entry describe a valid item for which an item entry can be madewithin the item table? If it is not identifiable, then in block 1440,the item is returned to the buffer table for analysis at a later date oreventual expiration. However, if in decision block 1415 the item isdetermined to be identifiable, then in decision block 1420 it isdetermined whether the item is categorizable, specifically, if the itemwill fall into a type of category. If the item is categorizable, thenprocessing continues to 1425 where a category is assigned to the item;then, in block 1430 the item is forwarded to the item database 566. Ifhowever in decision block 1420 the item is not categorizable, it placedback in the buffer table 564 (FIG. 5) in block 1440. Finally, indecision block 1435, a determination is made whether to continuescrubbing, if not, then processing ends in 1499, otherwise processingreturns back to block 1405 to continue manual scrubbing the buffertable.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of asystem 1500 to facilitate an on-line purchase of at least one item by aconsolidated shopping website which purchases the item from a merchantwebsite on behalf of a consumer. In one embodiment, system 1500 mayfacilitate secure ordering, payment and funding services whilesubstantially protecting the privacy of the transaction participants.System 1500 may also include processes for authenticating participants,facilitating on-line purchases made on behalf of a consumer, andsettling payments. As such, embodiments of the invention may enablemerchants providing websites to effectively accept an order withoutchanging their current ordering infrastructure.

System 1500 may also include consumer computing device 1510. Consumercomputing device 1510 may be any software and/or hardware suitablyconfigured to communicate transaction data to a consolidated merchant(CM) host computer (e.g., CM host computer 1520). In one embodiment,consumer computing device 1510 may be configured to receive transactiondata input by a consumer, and transmit a purchase request, which mayinclude transaction data, to at least one CM host computer 1520. As usedherein, “transmit” may include sending electronic data from onecomponent to another component of system 1500 over a network connection(e.g., network 1550, discussed below). “Transaction data” may include,for example, at least one item identifier for each item being purchased(e.g., SKU or UPC code), a payment instrument account number, and/or anyother data helpful in a purchase request. Additionally, as used herein,“data” may include encompassing information such as commands, queries,files, data for storage, and the like in digital or any other form. A“payment instrument” may include, for example, one or more of a chargecard, credit card, debit card, awards card, prepaid card, smart card,magnetic stripe card, bar code card, transponder, RFID, radio frequencycard and/or the like having an account number, which cardholderstypically present to merchants, as part of a transaction, such as apurchase. However, a consumer may present an account number without theuse of a physical payment instrument.

An “account” or “account number”, as used herein, may include, forexample, any device, code, number, letter, symbol, digital certificate,smart chip, digital signal, analog signal, biometric or otheridentifier/indicia suitably configured to allow the consumer to access,interact with or communicate with the system (e.g., one or more of anauthorization/access code, personal identification number (PIN),Internet code, other identification code, and/or the like). The accountnumber may optionally be located on or associated with a rewards card,charge card, credit card, debit card, prepaid card, embossed card, smartcard, magnetic stripe card, bar code card, transponder, radio frequencycard or an associated account. System may include or interface with anyof the foregoing cards or devices, or a fob having a transponder andRFID reader in RF communication with the fob. Although the presentinvention may include a fob embodiment, the invention is not to be solimited. Indeed, system 1500 may include any device having a transponderconfigured to communicate with RFID reader via RF communication. Typicaldevices may include, for example, a key ring, tag, card, cell phone,wristwatch or any such form capable of being presented forinterrogation. Moreover, system 1500, consumer computing device 110and/or consolidated merchant (CM) host computer 120 (detailed below) mayinclude a “pervasive computing device,” which may include atraditionally non-computerized device that is embedded with a computingunit. Examples may include, but are not limited to, watches, Internetenabled kitchen appliances, restaurant tables embedded with RF readers,wallets or purses with imbedded transponders, etc.

The account number may be distributed and stored in any form of plastic,electronic, magnetic, radio frequency, wireless, audio and/or opticaldevice capable of transmitting or downloading data from itself to asecond device. A payment instrument account number may be, for example,a sixteen-digit credit card number, although each credit provider hasits own numbering system, such as the fifteen-digit numbering systemused by American Express. Each company's credit card numbers comply withthat company's standardized format such that the company using asixteen-digit format will generally use four spaced sets of numbers, asrepresented by the number “0000 0000 0000 0000”. The first five to sevendigits are reserved for processing purposes and identify the issuingbank, card type, etc. In this example, the last (sixteenth) digit isused as a sum check for the sixteen-digit number. The intermediaryeight-to-ten digits are used to uniquely identify the consumer. Amerchant account number may be, for example, any number or alpha-numericcharacters that identify a particular merchant for purposes of cardacceptance, account reconciliation, reporting, or the like.

In one exemplary embodiment, consumer computing device 1510 may be apersonal computer, although other types of computing units may be usedincluding laptops, notebooks, hand held computers, set-top boxes,cellular telephones, touch-tone telephones and the like. Moreover,consumer computing device 1510 may also be a merchant computing unitimplemented in the form of a computer-server, although otherimplementations are contemplated. Thus, consumer computing device 1510may be in a home or business environment with access to a network (e.g.,the Internet). Applicants note that any reference to a single consumercomputing device may include one or more consumer computing devices.

Consumer computing device 1510 may also be configured to communicatewith CM host computer 1520. An electronic commerce system may beimplemented at consumer computing device 1510 and CM host computer 1520.The electronic commerce system may be implemented as computer softwaremodules loaded onto CM host computer 1520 and consumer computing device1510, and CM host computer 1520 may not require any additional softwareto participate in online commerce transactions supported by theelectronic commerce system. Thus, CM host computer 1520 may be anysoftware and/or hardware suitably configured to facilitate atransaction. In one embodiment, CM host computer 1520 may be configuredto process a request to purchase an item received from consumercomputing device 1510. Furthermore, CM host computer 1520 may include aprocessor for processing digital data; a memory coupled to the processorfor storing digital data; an input digitizer coupled to the processorfor inputting digital data; an application program stored in the memoryand accessible by the processor for directing processing of digital databy the processor; a display device coupled to the processor and memoryfor displaying information derived from digital data processed by theprocessor; and a plurality of databases. In addition, though shown as amain frame computer, CM host computer 1520 may be implemented in otherforms, such as a mini-computer, a PC server, a network of computerslocated in the same of different geographic locations, or the like.

CM host computer 1520 may also be configured to store at least oneuniform resource locator (URL) for one or more merchant websites (e.g.,merchant websites 1535 and/or 1545), and access a merchant websiteutilizing a stored URL. Furthermore, CM host computer 1520 may beconfigured to access a webpage for placing an order for an item sold onan accessed webpage. CM host computer 1520 may also be configured toplace an order for an item sold on an accessed website and/or webpage.The order may be configured to include a token and/or other type ofidentifier of CM host computer 1520 to enable the recipient of the orderto identify CM host computer 1520 as the source the order. In anexemplary embodiment, CM host computer 1520 may be configured to placean order on behalf of a consumer on the order webpage similar toembodiments described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,490,601 issued to Markus etal., herein incorporated by reference. In addition, CM host computer1520 may be configured to receive order and/or shipping confirmationfrom at least one merchant website, and transmit such to a consumer.Moreover, CM host computer 1520 may be configured to transmit and/orreceive funds from external devices.

In one exemplary embodiment, CM host computer 1520 may be configured tocharge the consumer (and/or a third party, merchant, etc) a transactionfee for requesting an item from a different website for the benefit of aconsumer. Furthermore, CM host computer 1520 may be configured tocalculate the transaction fee, generally analogous to a salescommission, based on a set amount, a variable amount, random amount,percentage of the purchase amount and/or the like. In one embodiment,the predetermined amount may be an amount per transaction, an amount perordered item, an amount based on a threshold purchase amount, number ofwebsites where ordering occurs, type of item ordered, payment method,type of payment instrument used, and/or the like. The variable fee maybe based on similar criteria as the set amount, but may includeincrementally increasing amounts based on pre-determined factors storedwithin CM host computer 1520. Random fees may be charged for similarcriteria as the set fee and variable fee, however, the “randomness” maybe determined according to pre-determined factors also stored within CMhost computer 1520. CM host computer 1520 may be configured to charge atransaction fee to a consumer transmitting a purchase request viaconsumer computing device 1510, an affiliated and/or non-affiliatedmerchant selling the item on a merchant website 1535, a wholesaler ofthe ordered item, a manufacturer of the ordered item, an issuer of apayment instrument and/or any other entity appropriate to charge atransaction fee for the transaction. In one embodiment, the transactionfee may be included as part of an affiliation agreement between CM hostcomputer 1520 and a merchant website (e.g., merchant website 1535),which may detail how the transaction fee may be charged.

CM host computer 1520, after ordering an item on behalf of a consumer ona merchant website not affiliated with CM host computer 1520, may beconfigured to notify a non-affiliated (e.g., does not have apre-existing relationship and/or agreement) merchant website of such,and solicit a transaction fee from the merchant website. Thesolicitation may include a message suggesting that payment of thetransaction fee may result in future orders from CM host computer 1520and/or may include a message suggesting that non-payment of thetransaction fee may result in CM host computer 1520 not making futureorders.

CM host computer 1520 may also be configured to offer a rebate forordering an item from a different website on behalf of a consumer.Furthermore, CM host computer 1520 may be configured to calculate therebate based on a set amount, a variable amount, random amount,percentage of the purchase amount and/or the like similar to thetransaction fee configuration discussed above. The rebate may be offeredby CM host computer 1520 to a consumer transmitting a purchase requestvia consumer computing device 1510 and/or to any other appropriateentity (e.g., a school, church, charitable organization, etc.) in, forexample, a fund raiser.

In another embodiment, CM host computer 1520 may be configured toreceive a rebate for ordering an item from a different website on behalfof a consumer from a merchant selling the item on a merchant website1535, a wholesaler of the ordered item, a manufacturer of the ordereditem and/or any other entity offering a rebate to CM host computer 1520for facilitating the transaction for factors similar to those discussedabove, including an affiliation agreement. Moreover, CM host computer1520, after ordering an item on behalf of a consumer on a merchantwebsite not affiliated with CM host computer 1520, may be configured tonotify the merchant website of such, and include a request for a rebatefrom the merchant website, along with a message, similar to transactionfee embodiments discussed above.

CM host computer 1520 may be configured to charge a listing fee fordisplaying an item from other websites (e.g., merchant website 1535) ona website (e.g., consolidated shopping website 1514, hereinafter CSwebsite 1514) provided by CM host computer 1520. The listing fee may becharged to a merchant selling an item, a wholesaler or broker of anitem, a manufacturer of an item and/or any other entity desiring an itembe displayed on the website.

CM host computer 1520 may also be configured to automatically generatean electronic or paper receipt. In one embodiment, the receipt may beconsolidated and may be configurable, such as for batch processingpurposes. The consolidation may be across multiple accounts which may beapplicable with, for example, corporate accounts. CM host computer 1520may issue an end of year statement for a consumer as receipt tracking.In one embodiment, CM host computer 1520 may archive in a database a ROC(receipt of charge) associated with a charge account. As such, theadditional ROC information along with the statements from CM hostcomputer 1520 provide added value. CM host computer 1520 may charge theconsumer a fee for the archival services or any other services discussedherein. In one embodiment, CM host computer 1520 may periodically supplyline item detail statements, for example, at the end of the year,wherein the statement discloses each purchase. The service may only beavailable for certain levels of consumers or certain levels of paymentinstruments (e.g., Gold and Platinum cards). Furthermore, any chargesmay be paid directly out of an account using existing or customizedstored value systems.

CM host computer 1520 may additionally be configured to generate areport detailing transactions occurring within a specified period oftime. Reporting may include similar technology and systems as are knownin the art for corporate payment instrument reporting. For example, theadministrator of CM host computer 1520 may have a reporting relationshipat the consumer level and/or corporate level. The consumer level mayinclude monthly statements sent out to the consumer. The statements maybe in electronic (e.g., XMS) or paper (e.g., international) form. Thestatements may detail merchant, date, time, and/or amount. In oneembodiment, the statements may omit consumer components of thetransaction. At the corporate level, the system may help corporationsmanage their expense base with, for example, logistics, reporting tools,etc. A degree of flexibility may exist as to how the corporation desiresto manage accounts. For example, a corporation may settle the accountdirectly and be responsible for reviewing the eligibility of eachcharge. CM host computer 1520 may help the corporation manage theirexpense base by reporting on the nature of the transactions over acertain period of time (e.g., quarterly, annually, etc). The report mayinclude information such as, for example, certain expenses represent x %of their expense base and are split across six suppliers. As such, ifthey were to establish a preferred supplier arrangement with forexample, three widget manufacturers, they may reduce their expense base.To maintain privacy, CM host computer 1520 may customize the reportingso as to firewall certain detail, but still release sufficientinformation to make it valuable for expense base tracking andmanagement.

In an exemplary embodiment, CM host computer 1510 may provide a website,using any software and/or hardware suitably configured to accept andprocess an order for an item. Furthermore, CS website 1514 may beconfigured to receive a purchase request for an item from a consumer,the item being available for purchase on a different website that may ormay not have an affiliation with CS website 1514. CS website 1514 mayalso be configured to allow consumers to create and store a consumerprofile accessible by CS website 1514 and/or the consumer. A “consumerprofile” may be created and accessed (e.g., by inputting a user ID andPIN) similar to consumer profile embodiments known in the art. Moreover,a consumer profile may include, for example, the consumer's name,contact information (e.g., mailing address, telephone number, emailaddress, etc.), payment instrument account information, shopping habits,transaction history, consumer profile account information, and/or anyother information helpful in facilitating an on-line transaction.Shopping habits, for example, may enable the system to present a numberof links and/or menu items on CS website 1514 to a consumer's“favorites” based on previous shopping transactions.

In one embodiment, CS website 1514 provides a listing of the mostpopular categories based on an analysis of the shopping habits andtransaction history for a number of consumers. In another embodiment, CMhost computer 1520 groups consumers according to shopping habits,demographics, position, industry, and the like for the purpose ofselecting and presenting a listing of categories that are popular amonga specific grouping of consumers. Transaction history may also include ashopping cart history, which in one embodiment, displays items that werepreviously placed into an e-commerce shopping cart without finalizing apurchase transaction. For example, a consumer may have added a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) to a shopping cart during a previous session.However, in order to do further research on GPS devices, the consumermay have ended the session (i.e., closed the browser window). When thesame consumer subsequently accesses CS website 1514, the system searchesthe transaction history for the consumer and reloads the GPS device intothe consumer's shopping cart. Moreover, CS website 1514 may be astand-alone Internet website or a punchout site that interfaces withe-commerce applications (e.g., Ariba Buyer or SAP).

In one embodiment, CM host computer 1520 retrieves information for itemsfalling within the same or similar category as a searched item. Forexample, a search for a “garden hose” may return any number of itemsrelating to gardening or landscaping in addition to a variety of gardenhoses. Moreover, a consumer may enter a general category term to receivemore generic results. Entering “computers”, for example, may return anumber of personal computers, laptop computers, displays, printers, andthe like. In another embodiment, CM host computer 1520 retrieves a groupof items based on a search, uses the product information to determinethe category for the group of items, and to sort the group of items intosubcategories. The subcategories may be displayed within tabs of the CSwebsite 1514 interface. For example, a consumer may perform a search on“television sets.” A group of retrieved television sets may besubcategorized into a variety of tabs that group the television setsbased on size, resolution, high-definition, flat screen, LCD, and thelike.

To assist the consumer in using the CS website 1514 to search for itemsand categories of items, browser executable code such as, for example,an Applet tracks the consumer's interaction with CS website 1514. Thebrowser executable code detects a search term entered by the consumerand uses it in combination with search history, consumer profileinformation, etc., in order to make suggestions relating to searches.For example, a user who has interacted with CS website 1514 to regularlysearch for office supplies may be presented with helpful hints relatingsearch terms that may produce more targeted search results. In anotherembodiment, the browser executable code may automatically retrieve oneor more special offers based on what is known about the consumer.Accordingly, when the user logs in, for example, CM host computer 1520analyses historical transaction data relating to the consumer, theconsumer's profile, and any other relevant data in order to perform anautomatic search for special offers that may be of particular interestto the consumer.

Merchants occasionally bundle items in order to, for example, increasethe appeal of an item. For example, a merchant who sells computingequipment may bundle a desktop computer, LCD monitor, and printer.However, such a bundle may not be desirable for a consumer that simplyneeds a new desktop computer. CM host computer 1520 enables consumers toselect a bundle and take the bundle apart such that the consumer onlypurchases one or more items within the bundle in accordance with theirneed and/or desire. In one embodiment, unbundled items that are notpurchased are stored in a database as individual items to besubsequently offered for sale. Merchants may interact with the system todefine whether unbundling is allowed, rules for unbundling, pricing ofunbundled items, and how unbundled and un-purchased items should beprocessed. For example, a merchant may choose to have an unbundled itemoffered to consumers as a rebate or reward items.

In one embodiment, consumers may register with CM host computer 1520under a specialized status such as, for example, a wholesaler, or aseller of controlled items (e.g., fireworks). Accordingly, a consumermay be required to show evidence qualifying her for such status.Subsequently, the consumer may receive discounts on specific itemsand/or purchase items that the general public is not able to purchase(e.g., pharmaceuticals, controlled chemicals, medical equipment, etc.)Items sold in bulk to wholesalers and controlled items are filtered outof search results that are invoked by consumers that have not beengranted a specialized status.

Some merchants sell items that are less conducive to an online shoppingenvironment. Such items include personalized products such as, forexample, business cards, engraved gifts, promotional items with stampedwith a company logo, and the like. While imitated in function, many suchmerchants have configured their product websites such that a consumercan select from a list of templates (e.g., business cards), and entertext and/or graphics that they would like included with the items. Inone embodiment, CM host computer 1520 enables merchants to supplytemplate and personalization options along with product feeds. When asearch is subsequently performed for such items, CM host computer 1520provides a personalization interface to enable consumers to select fromany number of options provided by a merchant for personalizing an itemfor purchase. Options may include, for example, design, color, material,text font, etc. The personalization interface further enables consumersto specify text, upload graphic files, and the like. The personalizationinterface renders the item according to the consumer selected options inorder to enable the consumer to view what the item will look like.Accordingly, the personalization interface allows the consumer to makeany number of modifications to the item, until she is pleased with itsappearance. When a selected item is purchased, CM host computer 1520places the order as disclosed herein along with the personalizationinformation.

As described above, CS website 1514 enables any number of merchantwebsites to be searched to retrieve one or more items capable of beingpurchased from any of the merchant websites (e.g., merchant website 1535and/or 1545). The terms “display” and/or “displayed” may include anypictorial, alphanumeric, symbolic, electronic, item identifier, and/orany other representation of an item capable of being perceived by aconsumer, including the item itself. An item identifier may be provideddirectly from a merchant selling the item, a wholesaler and/or themanufacturer of the item in a variety of file formats (.xls, .csv, .txt,.xml, etc.) for items displayed on CS website 1514. In one embodiment,CS website 1514 may be configured to display multiple items capable ofbeing purchased from more than one merchant website 1535. CS website1514 may also be configured to allow consumers to browse and/or searchfor items displayed on CS website 1514. CS website 1514 may beconfigured to communicate with one or more merchant websites 1535 (bothaffiliated and non-affiliated) via a network 1550.

Network 1550 may include, for example, any electronic communicationmeans which incorporates both hardware and software components of such.Communication among the devices in accordance with the present inventionmay be accomplished through any suitable communication channels, suchas, for example, a telephone network, an extranet, an intranet,Internet, point of interaction device (point of sale device, personaldigital assistant, cellular phone, kiosk, etc.), online communications,satellite communications, off-line communications, wirelesscommunications, transponder communications, local area network (LAN),wide area network (WAN), networked or linked devices, keyboard, mouseand/or any suitable communication or data input modality. Moreover,although the invention is frequently described herein as beingimplemented with TCP/IP communications protocols, the invention may alsobe implemented using IPX, Appletalk, IP-6, NetBIOS, OSI or any number ofexisting or future protocols. If the network is in the nature of apublic network, such as the Internet, it may be advantageous to presumethe network to be insecure and open to eavesdroppers. Specificinformation related to the protocols, standards, and applicationsoftware utilized in connection with the Internet is generally known tothose skilled in the art and, as such, need not be detailed herein. See,for example, DILIP NAIK, INTERNET STANDARDS AND PROTOCOLS (1998); JAVA 2COMPLETE, various authors, (Sybex 1999); DEBORAH RAY AND ERIC RAY,MASTERING HTML 4.0 (1997); and LOSHIN, TCP/IP CLEARLY EXPLAINED (1997)and DAVID GOURLEY AND BRIAN TOTTY, HTTP, THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE (2002),the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Moreover,system 1500 contemplates the use, sale or distribution of an item orinformation over any network having similar functionality describedherein.

Merchant website 1535 may be any software and/or hardware suitablyconfigured to sell items. Merchant website 1535 may be configured toaccept and/or process an order for an item sold by the seller and/ormanufacturer, and transmit order and/or shipping confirmation to CSwebsite 1514. In one embodiment, merchant website 1535 may be affiliatedwith CS website 1535 and configured to detect a token and/or otheridentifier of CM host computer 1520 as the source of an order andtransmit funds (e.g., a transaction fee and/or rebate) to CM hostcomputer 1520 upon receipt of such. As used herein, the term “merchantwebsite” may include, for example, a website of a seller, wholesalerand/or manufacturer of an item, and any reference made herein to amerchant website (e.g., merchant website 1535) may also include at leastone additional merchant website (e.g., merchant website 1545). Merchantwebsite 1535 may be configured to communicate with CS website 1514 vianetwork 1550.

System 1500 may also be configured such that each device (e.g., consumercomputing device 1510, CM host computer 1520, merchant website 1535 andmerchant website 1545) is interconnected via a second network, referredto as a payment network. The payment network, which may be part ofcertain transactions, represents existing proprietary networks thatpresently accommodate transactions for credit cards, debit cards, andother types of financial/banking cards. The payment network is a closednetwork that is assumed to be secure from eavesdroppers. Exemplarytransaction networks may include the American Express®, VisaNet® and theVeriphone® networks.

Various databases used herein may include, for example, client data;merchant data; financial institution data; and/or like data useful inthe operation of system 1500. As those skilled in the art willappreciate, a user computer may include an operating system (e.g.,Windows NT, 95/98/2000, OS2, UNIX, Linux, Solaris, MacOS, etc.) as wellas various conventional support software and drivers typicallyassociated with computers. The computer may also include any suitablepersonal computer, network computer, workstation, minicomputer,mainframe or the like. A user computer may be in a home or businessenvironment with access to a network. In an exemplary embodiment, accessis through a network or the Internet through a commercially availableweb-browser software package.

Any databases discussed herein may be any type of database, such asrelational, hierarchical, graphical, object-oriented, and/or otherdatabase configurations. Common database items that may be used toimplement the databases include DB2 by IBM (White Plains, N.Y.), variousdatabase items available from Oracle Corporation (Redwood Shores,Calif.), Microsoft Access or Microsoft SQL Server by MicrosoftCorporation (Redmond, Wash.), or any other suitable database item.Moreover, the databases may be organized in any suitable manner, forexample, as data tables or lookup tables. Each record may be a singlefile, a series of files, a linked series of data fields or any otherdata structure. Association of certain data may be accomplished throughany desired data association technique such as those known or practicedin the art. For example, the association may be accomplished eithermanually or automatically. Automatic association techniques may include,for example, a database search, a database merge, GREP, AGREP, SQL,using a key field in the tables to speed searches, sequential searchesthrough all the tables and files, sorting records in the file accordingto a known order to simplify lookup, and/or the like. The associationstep may be accomplished by a database merge function, for example,using a “key field” in pre-selected databases or data sectors.

More particularly, a “key field” partitions the database according tothe high-level class of objects defined by the key field. For example,certain types of data may be designated as a key field in a plurality ofrelated data tables and the data tables may then be linked on the basisof the type of data in the key field. The data corresponding to the keyfield in each of the linked data tables is preferably the same or of thesame type. However, data tables having similar, though not identical,data in the key fields may also be linked by using AGREP, for example.In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, any suitabledata storage technique may be utilized to store data without a standardformat. Data sets may be stored using any suitable technique, including,for example, storing consumer files using an ISO/IEC 7816-4 filestructure; implementing a domain whereby a dedicated file is selectedthat exposes one or more elementary files containing one or more datasets; using data sets stored in consumer files using a hierarchicalfiling system; data sets stored as records in a single file (includingcompression, SQL accessible, hashed via one or more keys, numeric,alphabetical by first tuple, etc.); Binary Large Object (BLOB); storedas ungrouped data elements encoded using ISO/IEC 7816-6 data elements;stored as ungrouped data elements encoded using ISO/IEC Abstract SyntaxNotation (ASN.1) as in ISO/IEC 8824 and 8825; and/or other proprietarytechniques that may include fractal compression methods, imagecompression methods, etc.

In one exemplary embodiment, the ability to store a wide variety ofinformation in different formats is facilitated by storing theinformation as a BLOB. Thus, any binary information can be stored in astorage space associated with a data set. As discussed above, the binaryinformation may be stored on the financial payment instrument orexternal to but affiliated with the financial payment instrument. TheBLOB method may store data sets as ungrouped data elements formatted asa block of binary via a fixed memory offset using either fixed storageallocation, circular queue techniques, or best practices with respect tomemory management (e.g., paged memory, least recently used, etc.). Byusing BLOB methods, the ability to store various data sets that havedifferent formats facilitates the storage of data associated with thefinancial payment instrument by multiple and unrelated owners of thedata sets. For example, a first data set which may be stored may beprovided by a first party, a second data set which may be stored may beprovided by an unrelated second party, and yet a third data set whichmay be stored, may be provided by an third party unrelated to the firstand second party. Each of these three exemplary data sets may containdifferent information that is stored using different data storageformats and/or techniques. Further, each data set may contain subsets ofdata that also may be distinct from other subsets.

As stated above, in various embodiments of the present invention, thedata can be stored without regard to a common format. However, in oneexemplary embodiment of the present invention, the data set (e.g., BLOB)may be annotated in a standard manner when provided for manipulating thedata onto the financial payment instrument. The annotation may comprisea short header, trailer, or other appropriate indicator related to eachdata set that is configured to convey information useful in managing thevarious data sets. For example, the annotation may be called a“condition header”, “header”, “trailer”, or “status”, herein, and maycomprise an indication of the status of the data set or may include anidentifier correlated to a specific issuer or owner of the data. In oneexample, the first three bytes of each data set BLOB may be configuredor configurable to indicate the status of that particular data set;e.g., LOADED, INITIALIZED, READY, BLOCKED, REMOVABLE, or DELETED.Subsequent bytes of data may be used to indicate for example, theidentity of the issuer, user, transaction/membership account identifieror the like. Each of these condition annotations are further discussedherein.

The data set annotation may also be used for other types of statusinformation as well as various other purposes. For example, the data setannotation may include security information establishing access levels.The access levels may, for example, be configured to permit only certainconsumers, levels of employees, companies, or other entities to accessdata sets, or to permit access to specific data sets based on thetransaction, merchant, issuer, user or the like. Furthermore, thesecurity information may restrict/permit only certain actions such asaccessing, modifying, and/or deleting data sets. In one example, thedata set annotation indicates that only the data set owner or the userare permitted to delete a data set, various identified users may bepermitted to access the data set for reading, and others are altogetherexcluded from accessing the data set. However, other access restrictionparameters may also be used allowing various entities to access a dataset with various permission levels as appropriate.

The data, including the header or trailer may be received by a standalone interaction device configured to add, delete, modify, or augmentthe data in accordance with the header or trailer. As such, in oneembodiment, the header or trailer is not stored on the transactiondevice along with the associated issuer-owned data but instead theappropriate action may be taken by providing to the payment instrumentuser at the stand alone device, the appropriate option for the action tobe taken. The present invention may contemplate a data storagearrangement wherein the header or trailer, or header or trailer history,of the data is stored on the payment instrument in relation to theappropriate data.

One skilled in the art will also appreciate that, for security reasons,any databases, systems, devices, servers or other devices of system 1500may consist of any combination thereof at a single location or atmultiple locations, wherein each database or system includes any ofvarious suitable security features, such as firewalls, access codes,encryption, decryption, compression, decompression, and/or the like.

System 1500 may be described herein in terms of functional blockcomponents and various processing steps. It should be appreciated thatsuch functional blocks may be realized by any number of hardware and/orsoftware components configured to perform the specified functions. Forexample, system 1500 may employ various integrated circuit components,e.g., memory elements, processing elements, logic elements, look-uptables, and the like, which may carry out a variety of functions underthe control of one or more microprocessors or other control devices.Similarly, the software elements of the present invention may beimplemented with any programming or scripting language such as C, C++,Java, COBOL, assembler, PERL, Visual Basic, SQL Stored Procedures,extensible markup language (XML), with the various algorithms beingimplemented with any combination of data structures, objects, processes,routines or other programming elements. Further, it should be noted thatthe present invention may employ any number of conventional techniquesfor data transmission, signaling, data processing, network control, andthe like. Still further, system 1500 may be used to detect or preventsecurity issues with a client-side scripting language, such asJavaScript, VBScript or the like. For a basic introduction ofcryptography and network security, see any of the following references:(1) “Applied Cryptography: Protocols, Algorithms, And Source Code In C,”by Bruce Schneier, published by John Wiley & Sons (second edition,1995); (2) “Java Cryptography” by Jonathan Knudson, published byO'Reilly & Associates (1998); (3) “Cryptography & Network Security:Principles & Practice” by William Stallings, published by Prentice Hall;all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, system 1500may be embodied as a customization of an existing system, an add-onitem, upgraded software, a stand-alone system, a distributed system, amethod, a data processing system, a device for data processing, and/or acomputer program item. Accordingly, system 1500 may take the form of anentirely software embodiment, an entirely hardware embodiment, or anembodiment combining aspects of both software and hardware. Furthermore,system 1500 may take the form of a computer program item on acomputer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program codemeans embodied in the storage medium. Any suitable computer-readablestorage medium may be utilized, including hard disks, CD-ROM, opticalstorage devices, magnetic storage devices, and/or the like.

The present invention is described herein with reference to blockdiagrams and flowchart illustrations of methods, apparatus (e.g.,systems), and computer program items according to various aspects of theinvention. It will be understood that each functional block of the blockdiagrams and the flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functionalblocks in the block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, respectively,can be implemented by computer program instructions.

These computer program instructions may be loaded onto a general purposecomputer, special purpose computer, or other programmable dataprocessing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructionsthat execute on the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus create means for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks. These computer program instructions may alsobe stored in a computer-readable memory that can direct a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instruction meanswhich implement the function specified in the flowchart block or blocks.The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer-implemented process such that theinstructions which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus provide steps for implementing the functions specified in theflowchart block or blocks.

Accordingly, functional blocks of the block diagrams and flow diagramillustrations support combinations of means for performing the specifiedfunctions, combinations of steps for performing the specified functions,and program instruction means for performing the specified functions. Itwill also be understood that each functional block of the block diagramsand flowchart illustrations, and combinations of functional blocks inthe block diagrams and flowchart illustrations, can be implemented byeither special purpose hardware-based computer systems which perform thespecified functions or steps, or suitable combinations of specialpurpose hardware and computer instructions. Further, illustrations ofthe process flows and the descriptions thereof may make reference touser windows, webpages, websites, web forms, prompts, etc. Practitionerswill appreciate that the illustrated steps described herein may comprisein any number of configurations including the use of windows, webpages,web forms, popup windows, prompts and the like. It should be furtherappreciated that the multiple steps as illustrated and described may becombined into single webpages and/or windows but have been expanded forthe sake of simplicity. In other cases, steps illustrated and describedas single process steps may be separated into multiple webpages and/orwindows but have been combined for simplicity.

FIG. 16 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of amethod 1600 to facilitate an on-line purchase of at least one item onbehalf of a consumer by a consolidated shopping website. CM hostcomputer (e.g., CM host computer 1520) displays item information for anitem on a CS website (e.g., CS website 1514) provided by CM hostcomputer 1520 that is capable of being purchased on a different merchantwebsite (e.g., merchant websites 1535 and/or 1545) (step 1610). CM hostcomputer 1520 may charge an entity requesting the item be displayed onCS website 1514 a listing fee for displaying the item (step 1615).

In one exemplary embodiment, CM host computer 1520 may receive a requestfrom a consumer computing device (e.g., consumer computing device 1520)via CS website 1514 to purchase an item displayed on CS website 1514(step 1620). The request may then be scrubbed, denormalized, normalizedand enriched with additional content (e.g., images, short description,long description, features, attributes, etc.). The enriched data may beobtained via the supplier, manufacturer, and/or data warehouses (e.g.,CNET). The request may include transaction data and/or informationrelated to the consumer (e.g., name, contact information (e.g., shippingaddress, telephone number, email address, etc.), payment instrumentaccount information, etc.) input by the consumer at the time of therequest. In another embodiment, the request may include transaction dataand consumer information stored in a consumer profile accessible by CSwebsite 1514.

With the transaction data and consumer information, CM host computer1520 may access a merchant website (e.g., merchant website 1535 and/or1545) that sells the item the consumer wishes to purchase (step 1630),and locate a webpage used for receiving orders (step 1640). In oneembodiment, CM host computer 1520 may automatically access merchantwebsite 1535 after the purchase request from the consumer is received oraccess merchant website 1535 in real-time. Applicants note that due tovarious possible configurations of merchant websites, steps 1630 and1640 may be performed simultaneously (e.g., when the order webpage isincluded in the first page accessed on a merchant website).

On an order webpage, CM host computer 1520 may order the requested itemon behalf of the consumer (step 1650). In one exemplary embodiment, CMhost computer 1520 may repeat steps 1630, 1640 and/or 1650 multipletimes when a single purchase request includes at least one item fromeach of two or more different merchant websites (step 1654).

When ordering an item, CM host computer 1520 may enter the transactiondata and consumer information in the appropriate field(s) on the orderwebpage. In an exemplary embodiment, CM host computer 1520 may injectthe transaction data and/or consumer information in the appropriatefields according to the methods described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No.6,490,601.

In one embodiment, payment instrument account information included inthe transaction data may be consumer payment instrument accountinformation, and the consumer's payment instrument account may bedebited by each merchant website for the amount purchased on thatparticular merchant website. In another embodiment, CM host computer1520 may order the item on behalf of the consumer utilizing paymentinstrument account information for CM host computer 1520. In thisembodiment, CM host computer's 1520 payment instrument account may bedebited by each merchant website for the amount purchased at eachmerchant website, and CM host computer 1520 may subsequently cause to bedebited a financial account of the consumer for the entire purchaseamount, or for each individual amount debited by each merchant website1535 (step 1658).

CM host computer 1520 may receive an order and/or shipping confirmationfrom the merchant website when the item has been successfully orderedand/or shipped (step 1660). In addition, CM host computer 1520 mayreport to the consumer the transaction information, order confirmation(independently of, or once the item(s) has/have been successfullyordered), and/or shipping confirmation once shipping confirmation fromthe merchant is received (step 1670).

In one exemplary embodiment, CM host computer 1520 may charge atransaction fee for placing the order with merchant website 1535 (step1680). The transaction fee may be a set amount, a variable amount,random amount, percentage of the transaction and/or the like, and may becharged to the consumer, merchant website 1535, a wholesaler of theordered item, a manufacturer of the ordered item and/or an issuer of thepayment instrument used to place the order similar to the discussionabove. In the case of a non-affiliated merchant website 1535, CM hostcomputer 1520 may solicit a transaction fee from an entity by includinga message suggesting that future orders may or may not be placed, and/ora payment instrument may of may not be used depending on whether thetransaction fee is paid (step 1685).

Furthermore, CM host computer 1520 may offer and/or receive a rebatewhen placing the order (step 1690). The rebate may come from merchantwebsite 1535, a wholesaler of the ordered item, a manufacturer of theordered item and/or an issuer of the payment instrument used to placethe order. A rebate may be initiated by CM host computer 1520 solicitingentities for a rebate similar to transaction fee embodiments discussedabove in step 1685 (step 1695). A rebate may be offered to the consumerfor using system 1500 to make the purchase request and/or may be part ofa fundraiser, causing a financial account (not shown) of a school,church, research program, charity and/or any other designated entity tobe credited.

Applicants note that the present invention has been described in theconsumer-to-merchant context in which the consumer orders items frommerchants or suppliers. The present invention may also be applied to abusiness-to-business e-commerce context to allow non-consumer entitiesto purchase goods and/or services.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed herein with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any element(s) that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as critical, required, or essentialfeatures or elements of any or all the claims or the invention. Thescope of the present invention is accordingly to be limited by nothingother than the appended claims, in which reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless explicitly sostated, but rather “one or more.” Further, no element described hereinis required for the practice of the invention unless expressly describedas “essential” or “critical”.

1. A method of processing product orders, via a network, to allowconsumers to order products from a plurality of merchants, using a webpage comprising a consistent user interface, comprising the steps of:receiving a search request from a user, wherein said search requestincludes at least one of: an item description and a categorydescription; retrieving user data corresponding to said user; searchinga local database, in accordance with said user data and at least one of:an item description and a category description, to locate productinformation prior to searching websites for said product information,wherein said websites include a plurality of at least one of: affiliatedwebsites and unaffiliated websites; and, displaying said informationfrom at least one of said local database and said websites within saidweb page comprising a consistent user interface.
 2. The method of claim1, further comprising the steps of: receiving a product selectioncommand from a consumer indicative of selecting a product; adding saidselected product to said universal shopping cart; determining whethersaid selected product is from an affiliated web site; transmitting anorder for said selected product directly to an owner of said affiliatedweb site when said selected product is from said affiliated web site;injecting a product order at an unaffiliated website when said selectedproduct is from said unaffiliated web site, wherein said product orderis injected to an unaffiliated website according to pattern matching;and, identifying a common accepted payment method from said plurality ofmerchants, wherein said common accepted payment method is displayedwithin said webpage.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprisingperforming an analysis of said user data to determine item categorypreferences of said user.
 4. The method of claim 1, further comprisingperforming an analysis of said user data of a subset of users todetermine item categories that are searched most frequently.
 5. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising identifying products that werepreviously selected for purchase when no purchase occurred.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising retrieving an offer based on saiduser data.
 7. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining aproduct category corresponding to said search request, wherein saidproduct category is used to locate information relating to a pluralityproducts relating to said search request.
 8. The method of claim 1,further comprising retrieving a subset of products relating to a productcategory relating to said search request.
 9. The method of claim 1,further comprising transmitting browser executable code to a browserapplication of said user, wherein said browser executable code tracksinteraction between said user and said consistent user interface toprovide a search suggestion to said user.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein said user data includes at least one of: a user profile,shopping habits, transaction history, and search preferences.
 11. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising unbundling a bundled product,wherein said unbundling creates a plurality of individual products. 12.The method of claim 11, further comprising receiving unbundling rulesfrom a subset of said plurality of merchants.
 13. The method of claim 1,further comprising associated said user with a specialized status,wherein said user is provided a subset of said information based on saidspecialized status.
 14. The method of claim 1, further comprisingproviding said user with a personalization interface, wherein saidpersonalization interface includes controls for configuring at least oneof: text, graphic, color, and configuration for a product selected fromsaid information.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein saidpersonalization interface provides a rendering of said product selectedfrom said information based on said configuring.
 16. A machine-readablemedium having stored thereon a plurality of instructions, said pluralityof instructions when executed by a processor, cause said processor toperform a method comprising the steps of: receiving a search requestfrom a user, wherein said search request includes at least one of: anitem description and a category description; retrieving user datacorresponding to said user; searching a local database, in accordancewith said user data and at least one of: an item description and acategory description, to locate product information prior to searchingwebsites for said product information, wherein said websites include aplurality of at least one of: affiliated websites and unaffiliatedwebsites; and, displaying said information from at least one of saidlocal database and said websites within said web page comprising aconsistent user interface.